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Martin Luther

Martin Luther(/ˈluːθər/;German:[ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈlʊtɐ]10 November
1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German professor oftheology,
composer, priest, monk[2]and a seminal figure in theProtestant Reformation.

Luther came to reject
several teachings and practices of theRoman Catholic Church. He strongly disputed the claim
that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money,
proposing an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy ofindulgencesin hisNinety-five
Thesesof 1517. His refusal to renounce all of
his writings at the demand ofPope Leo Xin 1520 and theHoly Roman Emperor Charles Vat theDiet of Wormsin 1521 resulted in hisexcommunicationby thePopeand condemnation as anoutlawby the Emperor.

Luther taught thatsalvationand, subsequently, eternal life are not earned by good deeds but are
received only as the free gift of God'sgracethrough the believer'sfaithinJesus Christas redeemer from sin.His theologychallenged the
authority and office of the Pope by teaching that theBibleis theonly sourceofdivinelyrevealed knowledge from God[3]and opposedsacerdotalismby consideringall
baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood.[4]Those who identify with these, and all of Luther's wider teachings, are
calledLutherans, though
Luther insisted onChristianorEvangelicalas the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ.

His translation of the Bibleinto thevernacular(instead ofLatin) made it more accessible to the laity,
an event that had a tremendous impact on both the church and German culture. It
fostered the development of a standard version of theGerman
language, added several principles to the art of translation,and influenced the writing of an English translation, theTyndale Bible.Hishymnsinfluenced the
development of singing in Protestant churches.His marriage toKatharina
von Bora, a former nun, set a model for the practice ofclerical
marriage, allowing Protestant clergy to marry.

In two of his later
works, Luther expressed antagonistic views towardsJews, writing that
Jewish homes andsynagoguesshould be destroyed, their money confiscated, and liberty curtailed.
Condemned by virtually every Lutheran denomination, these statements and theirinfluence on antisemitismhave contributed to his controversial status.

Early
life

Birth and education

Martin Luther was born
to Hans Luder (or Ludher, later Luther)and his wife
Margarethe (née Lindemann) on 10 November 1483 inEisleben, Saxony,
then part of theHoly Roman Empire.
He was baptized as a Catholic the next morning on the feast day ofSt.
Martin of Tours. His family moved toMansfeldin 1484, where his father was a leaseholder of copper mines and smeltersand served as one of four citizen representatives on the local council.The religious scholarMartin Martydescribes Luther's mother as a hard-working woman of "trading-class
stock and middling means" and notes that Luther's enemies later wrongly
described her as a whore and bath attendant.He had several
brothers and sisters, and is known to have been close to one of them, Jacob.Hans Luther was ambitious for himself and his family, and he was determined
to see Martin, his eldest son, become a lawyer. He sent Martin to Latin schools
in Mansfeld, thenMagdeburgin 1497, where he attended a school operated by alay groupcalled theBrethren of the Common Life, andEisenachin 1498.The three schools focused on the so-called "trivium":
grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Luther later compared his education there topurgatoryandhell.

In 1501, at the age of
19, he entered theUniversity
of Erfurt, which he later described as a beerhouse and whorehouse.He was made to wake at four every morning for what has been described as
"a day of rote learning and often wearying spiritual exercises."He received his master's degree in 1505.

In accordance with his
father's wishes, Luther enrolled in law school at the same university that year
but dropped out almost immediately, believing that law represented uncertainty.Luther sought assurances about life and was drawn to theology and
philosophy, expressing particular interest inAristotle,William
of Ockham, andGabriel Biel.He was deeply influenced by two tutors,Bartholomaeus Arnoldivon Usingen and
Jodocus Trutfetter, who taught him to be suspicious of even the greatest
thinkersand to test everything himself by
experience.Philosophy proved to be unsatisfying,
offering assurance about the use ofreasonbut none about loving God, which to Luther was more important. Reason could
not lead men to God, he felt, and he thereafter developed a love-hate
relationship with Aristotle over the latter's emphasis on reason.For Luther, reason could be used to question men and institutions, but not
God. Human beings could learn about God only through divinerevelation, he
believed, andScripturetherefore became increasingly important to him.

He later attributed
his decision to an event: on 2 July 1505, he was returning to university on
horseback after a trip home. During a thunderstorm, a lightning bolt struck
near him. Later telling his father he was terrified of death and divine
judgment, he cried out, "Help!Saint Anna, I will
become a monk!"He came to view his cry for help as a
vow he could never break. He left law school, sold his books, and entered a
closedAugustiniancloister inErfurton 17 July 1505.One friend blamed the decision on
Luther's sadness over the deaths of two friends. Luther himself seemed saddened
by the move. Those who attended a farewell supper walked him to the door of the
Black Cloister. "This day you see me, and then, not ever again," he
said.His father was furious over what he saw as a waste of
Luther's education.

Early and academic life

Luther dedicated
himself to the Augustinian order, devoting himself tofasting, long hours
inprayer,pilgrimage, and
frequentconfession.Luther described this period
of his life as one of deep spiritual despair. He said, "I lost touch with
Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailer and hangman of my
poor soul." Johann
von Staupitz, his superior, pointed Luther's mind away from
continual reflection upon his sins toward the merits of Christ. He taught that
true repentance does not involve self-inflicted penances and punishments but
rather a change of heart.

In 1507, he was
ordained to the priesthood, and in 1508, von Staupitz, first dean of the newly
foundedUniversity of Wittenberg, sent for Luther, to
teachtheology.He received a bachelor's degree in Biblical studies on 9 March 1508, and
another bachelor's degree in theSentencesbyPeter Lombardin 1509.

On 19 October 1512, he
was awarded hisDoctor
of Theologyand, on 21 October 1512, was received
into the senate of the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg,having succeeded Staupitz as chair of theology.He spent the rest of his career in this position at the University of
Wittenberg.

He was made provincialvicarofSaxonyandThuringiaby his religious order in 1515. This meant he was to visit and oversee each
of eleven monasteries in his province.

Start
of the Reformation

Luther's theses are engraved into the door ofAll Saints' Church, Wittenberg. TheLatininscription above informs the reader that the original door was destroyed
by a fire, and that in 1857, KingFrederick William IV of Prussiaordered a replacement be made.

In 1516,Johann Tetzel, aDominican
friarand papal commissioner forindulgences, was
sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church to sell indulgences to raise money
to rebuildSt.
Peter's Basilicain Rome.Roman Catholic
theology stated that faith alone, whether fiduciary or dogmatic, cannot justify
man;justification rather depends only on such faith as is
active in charity and good works (fides caritate formata).The benefits of good works could be obtained by donating money to the
church.

On 31 October 1517,
Luther wrote to his bishop,Albert of Mainz,
protesting the sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy of his
"Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of
Indulgences", which came to be known as theNinety-five
Theses. Hans Hillerbrand writes that Luther had no intention of confronting the
church, but saw his disputation as a scholarly objection to church practices,
and the tone of the writing is accordingly "searching, rather than
doctrinaire."Hillerbrand writes that there is
nevertheless an undercurrent of challenge in several of the theses,
particularly in Thesis 86, which asks: "Why does the pope, whose wealth
today is greater than the wealth of the richestCrassus, build the
basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own
money?"

Luther objected to a
saying attributed to Johann Tetzel that "As soon as the coin in the coffer
rings, the soul from purgatory (also attested as 'into heaven') springs."He insisted that, sinceforgivenesswas God's alone to grant, those who claimed that indulgencesabsolvedbuyers from all punishments and granted themsalvationwere in error. Christians, he said, must not slacken in following Christ on
account of such false assurances.

However, this
oft-quoted saying of Tetzel was by no means representative of contemporary
Catholic teaching on indulgences, but rather a reflection of his capacity to
exaggerate. Yet if Tetzel overstated the matter in regard to indulgences for
thedead, his teaching on indulgences for thelivingwas in line with Catholic dogma of the
time.

According to one
account, Luther nailed hisNinety-five Thesesto the door ofAll Saints' ChurchinWittenbergon 31 October 1517. Scholars Walter Krämer, Götz Trenkler, Gerhard Ritter,
and Gerhard Prause contend that the story of the posting on the door, even
though it has settled as one of the pillars of history, has little foundation
in truth.The story is based on comments made byPhilipp
Melanchthon, though it is thought that he was not in Wittenberg at
the time.

The LatinTheseswere printed in several location in
Germany in 1517. In January 1518 friends of Luther translated theNinety-five Thesesfrom Latin into German.Within two weeks, copies of the theses had spread throughout Germany; within
two months, they had spread throughout Europe.

Luther's writings
circulated widely, reaching France, England, and Italy as early as 1519.
Students thronged to Wittenberg to hear Luther speak. He published a short
commentary onGalatiansand hisWork on the Psalms. This early part of Luther's career was one of his
most creative and productive.Three of his best-known works were
published in 1520:To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation,On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, andOn the Freedom of a Christian.
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